Refillable broom, brush, and the like



Feb. 16, 1954 G. PIGNA-ro REFILLABLE BROOM,l BRUSH, AND THE LIKE FiledJuly 2o. 195o 1N VEN TOR. GAETANO PIGNATO BW ,arms/yay Patented Feb. 16,1954 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE f 2,668,972 v Y REFILLABL BROOM, BRUSH,AND THE LIKE Gaetano Pignato, Brooklyn, N. Y.

Application July 20, 1950, Serial No. 174,837

` 2 claims. (o1. 15-172) This invention relates to new and usefulimprovements in sweeping implements, such as brooms; and, moreparticularly, the aim is to provide a novel and valuable implementcharacterized by an. improved combination of handle, broom or brushhead, and rell for the latter.

Said refill may comprise, in the case of a broom, a bundleof broom lcornor the like, bundled in anysuitable way, as by the stitching longfamiliar in the art of bundling broom corn and the like incidental tothe making of an ordinary broom with the broom corn or the likepermanently attached to the broom handle. In the case of the presentinvention, however, the placement of said stitching or equivalent, aswire ties, or any othermeans usedfor bundling the broom corn orequivalents, is intermediate the Aends of the bundle, and the .bristlesvof the bundle have their opposite ends at the opposite ends ofthebundle, thereby to provide a reversible or double-use refill.

Also provided by the present invention is an exceptionally simple andinexpensive structure, partly included in the rellfand vpartlyincorporated in the broom or brush head, so constructed that abroomrcorn or equivalentbundle already in the broom or brush head may bequickly and easily removed therefrom for discard or reversal, that apartially worn bundle after removal and reversal, or a new orreplacement bundle, may be quickly and easily mounted in the broom orbrush head, and that, nevertheless, any bundle when mounted as intendedin the said head is dependably securely held at its mounting duringandbetween uses of the broom or brush as such.

For further comprehension of the'invention, and of the objects andadvantages thereof, reference will be had to the following descriptionand accompanying drawings, and to the appended claims in which thevarious novel features of the invention are more particularly set forth.

" In the accompanying drawings forming a material part of thisdisclosure:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of one of the many possible now favoredembodiments of the invention; this shown, for example, as a sweepingbroom. J

Fig. 2 is an end elevation thereof.

j Fig. 3 is an enlarged .verticalsection,'taken on the line 3-3 of Fig.2; with the-,refill merely indicated, in dot and dash, in two possibleplacements of said rellin the broom head. f

Y* .-Fig. 4 shows said rei-lllin top perspective, -delacked. J; .1......til 155:; .l,.`.

Fig. 5 is a horizontal section, taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a further enlarged detail section, this as though taken on theline 6-6 of Fig. 5, but illustrating a modification.

Fig. 7 is a side elevation, partially broken away and partially insection, of another of the many possible now favored embodiments of theinvention; this shown, for example, as a paint brush or the like. y

Fig. 8 is an end elevation thereof.

Fig. 9 is a view similar to Fig. 7, but illustrating a modication. U

Fig. 10 is a perspective view of a core portion which may be used forbeing inbuilt in a rell pursuant to the invention; this core sectionbeing also seen in Fig. 9.

Fig. 11 is a perspective view of the handle of ,.Figs. 7-9, detached. u'20 Fig. 12 is a section taken on the line |2-,I2 of Fig. '7.

Fig. 13 is a section taken on the line I3-I3 of Fig. 7. l Fig. 14 is abottom plan View of Fig. 7.l Referring now to the drawing more indetail, and first to Figs. 1-5, the broom here shown in illustration ofthe principles of the invention comprises a handle I0, a broom headwhich as a whole is designated Il, and a reversible or double-use relll2.

As will be understood, the invention is not to be limited to material ormaterials used. Thus the handle l0 may be made of wood, metal, a plasticor any other desired material; and this comment applies also so far asare concerned the broom head Il, the material or materials of which itis made, the manner of attachment of the handle to the broom head, andwhether or not the handle is stationary, that is, fixed relative to thebroom head, or detachably to be secured to the latter. The invention,too, is broader than the means used to attach or connect the handle tothe broom head, or any `portion of the broom head to `any other portionthereof. Also, in regard to the refill, the invention is not to belimited to the kind or kinds of bristles used, as broom corn orotherwise, brous or not, and natural or artificial, as nylon or someother plastic, or if natural whether vegetable or animal; nor to theshortness or length of the bristles .or their relative neness orthickness. In connection with the allusion tok animal bristles justmade, it is further to beA pre,- lximinarily v.understood that theprinciplesl vof the invention may be applied to paint brushes, or thelike, as well as to brooms and sweeps.

In the present case, and by way of example only, the handle I may beassumed to be merely a round Wooden rod of appropriate length and ofsuitable diameter; and the broom head l I may be assumed to be made ofthin sheet metal which may be given a desired elastic set, thereby tohave the-same effectively carry a pair of snap lips to be 'referred toin a moment.

As said broom head II is illustrated it includes a main shell I4 shapedto provide a coirb` partment or socket I4 closed over at its top andclosed in all around its fou-r sides but open at its bottom.

Said compartment or socket IE' is 'elongate in horizontal section, sothat two of its side walls are of considerably greater width than thetwo other, or end, walls alternating around the socket with said widerwalls. These wider walls, which are exactly alike and'which may be forconvenience called the front and back walls, are respectively designatedI5 and I6; and they have lower portions extended below the bottoms Iland I8 of the end walls'y which end walls are also exactly ali-ke.

Said bottom portions of said walls I5 and I5 are substantiallyfrusto-triangular, that is, each of lsaid'bottom portions, respectivelydesignated. I 9 and 20, is bounded along oppositev sides by downwardlyinclined converging edges; these edges marked `2I- and 22v (Fig. 3) inthe case of the back wall I5.

Said wall portions I9 and y20 constitute fairly sti-if leaf-springinstrumentalities each carrying at 'its bottom one of the aforesaid pairof snap lips.V Since, yas already stated, the walls I5 and 4v'IFB areexactly alike, saidsnap lips are exactly alike. vEach of said lips, bothdesignated 2-3, is in the forni "of a substantially rectangularvhorizontally elongate panel-like downward extension; and each of saidextensions is formed to carry longitudinally thereof a groove 24 theconcavity of which faces the concavity of the corresponding groove inthe other of said extensions.V l

'Ii'he'broo'm head vI-I is shown as also including anv`a1-1xiliar`yshell incorporating a basal *shawllike portion l25 and anupstanding neck portion 256;' said portion 25 for straddling and closelyembracing the top and upper side wall portions 'of 'the mainshell I4,and there being suitably firmly attached, as by brazing, soldering,welding or in any other suitable and convenient way, and said neckportion 26 for having inserted therein as illustrated an end of thehandle It.. Inwthe present case, a rivet 21 is' shown as the means forobtaining a suitable permanent securement. of the handle in said neckportion.

The rell I2 is illustrated as made of broom corn as. in the ordinaryhousehold broom,l but with the vbroom corn bundled, although so bundledby lines of stitching (28, Fig. Li)y into a tightly compacted mass atthe zoneof said stitching as in the case of the ordinary broom, toestablish said zoneat a new location.; in other words, while 'said lines'of stitching extend across the bundle, as is conventional, they soextend intermediate the ends of the bristles, thereby to provide, in onedirection beyond said zone and 'also in theyopposite direction beyondsaid Zone,I va different broom corn sweeper means. In Fig. '4, one ofsaid sweeper means is designated 259,"an'd the'other ofV said sweepermeans 'is des-ig'- suitably clamped Menthe lmail i2, `'mit runnin-g allaround the latter at said zone, is a structure 3I to provide a beadelement at each side of the rell. As herein shown, the structure 3| ismerely a length of Wire of generally circular cross-section crimped,tightly around the refill at the zone where the stitchings 2S areapplied; the plane of the structure 3I when thus crimped being parallelto the planes of the bristles ends at each'end of the refill, and theshape of said structure when so, crimped being such as to conform to theshape of said zone cross-sectionally of the rell as shown in Fig. 5.

Said zone cross-section, as will be understood, is such, relative to thearea and shape of the bottomopening of the compartment or socket Ill',and relative to the natural spread of the broom corn bristles in bothdirections away from said zone, that when the refill I2 is mounted inthe broomhead II in any one of a plurality of different dispositionstherein, the structure 3l of the rellwfill lie properly betweenv thepair of snap lips 23, one of the two sweeper means 2-9 `and vSilof therell will be conned in the compartment or socket Ill and the other ofsai'd sweeper means will be projected below said lips for constitutingthe then operative sweeper means, and the grooves 211 will'besnap-locked into engagement with 'the portions of the struc ture 3|constituting the already mentioned bead elements vrat opposite sidesofthe refill thereby 'dependably secu-rely to hold the refill at `its`selected mounting relative lto the broom head during and between usesof the broom as such.

In manufacturing the refill, the two oppositely extending `sweeper meansmay be 'of the saine length, that is, the structure :3| or equivalentmay be applied vvcentrally of the length of the refill; or 'saidtwosweeper means vmay be made of different lengths, for di-lferentialsweeper laction as desired at different times and'under differentcleaning conditions, by placing the structure 3l or equivalent v'atapoi'nt closer to one vrend of the refill than to theother.

An 'arrangement like that last referred 'to is, by wayof example,illustrated herein; 'it being noted that the `sweeper means 30 is shownas somewhat longer 'than the sweeper means 29. In Figs. 1 and 2, thesweeper means-'29 is shown "as the one project'edbelow the broom headyfor :constituting the then operative sweeper means; whilein Fig. 3, thedot'and dash depictions 2S!" and 730" indicate the working ends of',respectively, the sweeper means '29 `and 3'0"with the'latter `disposedas in Figs. 1 and A2, and lthe dot vand dash lines 29 and 3U indicatethe planes `of the workingendsof, respectively, lthe sweeper means`29'and 30 when the reill I2 is so disposed inthe broom head VI I thatit is the longer sweeper means llwhich is rprojected below 'the broomhead.. y

Referring'to the modification illustrated in Fig. 6, here a structureI 3I? corresponding to the structure 3| is shown which, for being shapedand crimped as has been explained in connection with thestructure 3I, ismadeof a'length of wire of lsubstantially generally round 'cross-sectionand which also is longitudinally corrugated as shown, with these`corrugationspreferably. 'very small and close. together *soA as notappreciably to weaken said 'wire' or interfere with-sai'd-shaping andcrimping, and rwith "said fcorruga'tions also preferably so-con'tour'edthat the "crests 'of certainoffthem will fbe `forced to an exceedinglytight and immovable yet non-damaging gripo'n eral ways.

the. refill at the zone where the structure'S'I- is applied; Y Y

While theV embodiment of the invention as shown in Figs. 1-6v and asabove described is 4illustrative of an application of-the principles 4ofthe invention to a sweeping broom, and the understood that any or all ofthe improvements typified in Figs. 1-6 may be applied to a paint brushand that any orall of the improvements typified in Figs. '7-14 may beapplied to a broom.

Referring to Figs. 7, 8 and 11-14, a shell 32 is provided which differsfrom theshell I4 in sev- The shell 32 has rectangulary front and rear aswell as end walls. with the bottoms of all these walls inthe same plane;that is, elements corresponding to the elements I9, 29, 23 and 24 arefomitted. The said shell 32 at the center of its roof wall has anaperture for endwise insertion therethrough of the handle, said handledesignated 33; and which aperture may be surrounded by a neck 34 asshown.

The lower end of the handle 33 has an external ythread 35'.. Said threadis for being screwed into an internally threaded socket 36 extended allthe way through the thickness of a core section sage of the handle 33through the neck 34 and' screwing of the threaded end 35 of the handleinto the socket 36, all three of the handle, the shell 32 and said coresection are irnmovably locked together.

Said core section 31 is shown as the carrier of two groups 40 and 4I ofbrush bristles, said bristles being anchored in the core section, as byhaving the bristles arranged in tufts with such tufts embedded in thecore section material, or attached in any suitable manner to the coresection. Thus, a double-use rell 31-40-4I is provided pursuant to theinvention, readily reversible in the brush head aorded by the shell 32,for use of either selected one of the bristle groups 40 and 4I as theworking bristle end of the implement and with the other of said groupshoused in the shell 32.

Since the outer ends of the bristles of each of the groups 4I! and 4Iwill tend to close in toward their companion bristles in the same group,at their end portions remote from the core section 31, the points ofsecurement of the different bristles of a group 40 or 4I thereof to saidcore section may be so spaced relative to the threaded socket 36 thatthe group of bristles to be housed in the shell 32 may be temporarilyforced to slight abnormal separation to provide a tunnel through whichthe handle 33 may be advanced for being screwed into the socket 3B, yetso that the other group of bristles will have a satisfactorily evenspread at their ends remote from the said core section.

Referring to the modification of Figs. 9 and 10, in which modification,for a reason to become plain in a moment, the handle 33 may be ofuniform cross-section from its outer end down to the beginning of thethread 35, a shell 42 is shown which is exactlyA like the shell I4, sofar as are concerned inclusion of elements exactly likethe elements I9,20, 23 and 24 of said shell I4. At its top, however, the shell 42 isshown as like the shell 32, the shell 42 having an aperture for theendwise insertion therethrough of the handle 33, said aperture in theshell 42 being shown as surrounded by a neck 43 corresponding kto theneck 34.

The double-use refill as here used has a core section 44, also made ofmetal, wood, plastic or any other suitable material, and having alongYits opposite sides bead elements 45, 45 corresponding to the Abeadelements hereinabove described as provided by the structure 3| 4of Figs.

at the bottoms of the wider sides of said shell and carrying oppositelyfacing grooves corresponding to the grooves 24 coact with the beadelements 45, 45 dependably securely to lock the refill in the brushhead.

The elements shown at 49 in Fig. 10 may represent well-like depressionsin the seen face of the core section 44, with like depressions in thehidden face of said core section, in each of which depressions at oneface of the core section tufts of the bristles of the group 41 may besuitably secured, and in each of which depressions at the opposite faceof the core section tufts of the bristles of the group 48 may besuitably secured. Or said elements 49 may represent clear-throughapertures, for the securement therein, as by suitable adhesive or mannerof embedment, of the mid portions of long bristle tufts, thereby to havethe end portions of said tufts participate in the establishment of boththe groups 41 and 48.

While I have illustrated and described the preferred embodiments of myinvention, it is to be understood that I do not limit myself to theprecise construction herein disclosed and the right is reserved to allchanges and modifications coming within the scope 0f the invention asdened in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by United States Letters Patent is:

1. In an implement of the type including an elongate handle and aworking means offset from an end of the handle and of the type whereinsaid working means is of the kind comprising a multiplicity of elongateflexible elements gathered or bundled together as in a broom or in apaint brush or the like, the combination, with said elongate handle, ofa hollow head, means for connecting said head to the handle, areversible double-use rell, said refill incorporating two oppositelyextended groups of said elongate elements, said reiill being shaped anddimensioned for being mounted on the implement by partial insertion ofthe rell into the hollow head for then projecting beyond said head oneonly of said groups, and means partially carried by said rell fordetachably thu's mounting the rell with either of said groups as the oneso projected beyond said head, said refill having a portion fsaid groupsare extended,` ysaidportion 'carrying; the partv of i the :last-namedmearis.. partially Aoarriedbysaid relL-isaid part ofsaid meanssinfaeitherof said groups asfthe lmee "so projected bayond said head, saidrefill having a portion `kle- V.tween said groups from oppositeA sidesof which -said .groups are-extended, said portion 4vcan-,ying

cludinganfinternally threaded aperture through 15 the partoftheflastf-nam'ed means :partially oarsaid portion,landfsaidhandlehaving anexternally threaded end for beingserewediintoi-said aperture `through either end thereof between saidiflexible elements, said part of said meansfurtheraincl-uding aplurality of spaced projections o'n lsaid f10' portiono'f .the refill..

2. `Inl'an implement of the type ineludin'gfan `yelongatelhandle` anda"working means 'offset from an end lof the ihan'dl'e and lof the type'wherein said 'Working ymeans iis 4of the Ykind comprising al5multiplicity:of-elongate-ilexble 'el'e'n'i'entsl gathered or bundledtogether as in a broom or in a paint brush or the like, 'the'combinatiom"with said elongate handle,` o'f a hollow head; iiieans lfor connecting'said head to the handle,V a Areversible`20 double-use refill, saidreiill incorporating :two

'oppositely extended groups of saidelongat'e :elements, said rell`.being shaped 'and dimensioned for being mounted on the implement -by4partial insertion of the frefll into the hollow vhead for 25 `thenprojecting beyondsaid head one vorilyiof said groups, and "meanspartially carried by r said `refill-for detachably thus-'mounting therellwith tried by4 said 4relLsaidpart ofrsaidmeans includingan:internally threaded aperture :through said portion, and saidA Vhandlehaving an externally threaded endnfor being screwedinto saidaperture`through'either end'thereof between soidrlexible elements, said lpart ofsaid means' furtherincluding 'a yplurality-fof fspaced projections;r onsaid portion of 'the frell,y said last-named means lfur- :thervincludingV a .pair of 'snap lipsfelastieally icarred Aby Athe hollowAhead f and shaped `and varranged for elastically seizing between themsaid 'projections.

O PIGNA'IO.

VI.teferences:Cited 1in the file o fthis patent AVUNiT-ED STATES'PATENTS

